With increasing competition & changing tastes, how does the Taj Group hope to remain relevant?

Last week, at a glittering ceremony, Taj Hotels announced 'Tajness' the overarching strategy for the hotel brand, that more than 110 years back, wrote the rules of hospitality in India. It is the legacy brand's play to better equip itself for a rapidly changing world. Shares Rakesh Sarna, MD & CEO, Taj Hotels in an exclusive chat with BE, "We took a step-back and asked some questions starting from who we are, how relevant we are and how relevant we are going to be going forward". (See The Tajness Kit)

The changes at Taj happen against the backdrop of hospitality majors Marriott-Starwood aligning to create the largest hotel company in the world or the French major Accor group's global acquisition of Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel. Or the advent of home-sharing sites like AirBnb as well as platforms like booking.com, Expedia and Tripadvisor. These shifts have led to a changed competitive landscape , the impact of which is inevitable for any market. Explains Mandeep S Lamba, MRICS, managing director-India, hotels & hospitality group, Jones Lang LaSalle Property Consultants, "Indian hotel majors have been slow to react given that their inherent business model has been asset heavy which is not conducive to being nimble footed and quick with design and service standard changes."

Sarna, who joined the hotel company after being a Hyatt-guy for over 30 years, is doing his bit to make the company more nimble-footed. At a strategic level, he has brought in a renewed focus on India as compared to global expansion. "While it is nice to be in New York and Paris it is a must and critical to be in Mumbai, Delhi and rest of India, purely for business reasons." We had the first mover advantage in India and we have no right to squander that away, he adds. The company has been consolidating its portfolio. Recently it announced selling off Taj Boston and is relooking at loss-making properties.

Another paradigm shift is in customer profile.

The consumer today wants a unique experience, one more likely to secure approval and envy from peers on social media than the standardised luxury hotel fare. A recent survey from Goldman Sachs showed that both, familiarity, as well as the usage for Airbnb has been on a rise in the US and it is cutting across age-groups, with obvious implications for hospitality. All these dichotomies pose challenges to most legacy players. Points out Tanaaz B Kasad, director, Mahajan & Aibara Business Consulting, "Travellers including old brand loyalists want 'to feel special and not be taken for granted and are looking for more' from the 112-year-old grand dame of Indian hospitality." The brand needs to adapt to the evolving scenario by revamping its image through technology and loyalty programmes, as this will not only help retain its loyal clientele who love the old world charm but attract the next generation of discerning customers, she adds.

At a property level, there are many changes in the pipeline. "Tajness will help us redefine our brand standards and also impact anything that a guest can see, smell, feel, taste and touch", says ? Chinmai Sharma, chief revenue officer, Taj Hotels. This includes everything from a seamless check in- check out experience, to a set of rituals through the stay - arrival, wake-up, afternoon tea, sunset and the sleep ritual. It includes new attire, fragrance and music in public spaces. All these will move the story from hardware to things which are more intangible and will help the brand build an emotional connect, adds Sharma. Plans are also afoot to build upon the mobile platform with the introduction of an app to better engage with loyalty members and new customers.

Tajness will also mean taking a step back and examining the brand architecture, values and core attributes. Sarna says it will change but won't share more details at this stage. "We have set ourselves the target of December 2017 by which time Tajness would be alive and breathing, and by then we would also be ready with the new brand architecture."

From a communication perspective, the campaign will have a print, digital and experiential component. Ogilvy India, did the creative conceptualisation, and came up with the line, 'you can feel it with your eyes closed'. Explains Piyush Pandey, executive chairman & creative director, Ogilvy & Mather South Asia, "To the company (the Taj Group) that has different kinds of properties, the campaign would help define that uniqueness that can be the umbrella at the various price points." Creativeland Asia was deployed for the entire social and digital work with the mandate to bring alive the concept of Tajness, shares Sajan Raj Kurup, founder & creative chairman.

CLA has helped deliver some of the things that have been tried by the hotel brand for the first time, that include 3 VR (virtual reality) films across 3 locations. It won't be business as usual any longer for the hospitality behemoth that deploys 26000 people over its 133 hotels, as it readies itself to navigate through the journey of change.

The Tajness Kit
Rakesh Sarna, MD & CEO, Taj Hotels speaks candidly to Amit Bapna about the how, why and what of Tajness.

What is Tajness?
We went back into our history and asked what do we do well and who are we. If you are blindfolded in the hotel lobby how would you know it’s the Taj? The exercise became really about defining what Taj is -from the eyes of all the stakeholders - the guests, the shareholders, staff, and neighbourhood. We started defining experiences that the guest would go through. We are introducing the collective good of the past to the future customer. We are physically, holistically and architecturally repositioning the brand.

What would be some of the manifestations of Tajness?
Transformation of the lobbies and the removal of the biggest pain points of our industry – the check-in check-out process. Hoteliers torture people. They line up to give their money and we keep them waiting and ask them 24 questions, a phenomenon across the seven seas. We are going to remove that pain point and convert our lobbies from front-desk and cashier lobbies to cosy living rooms. • We want to go back to serving tasty food – not innovative food but just tasty food. Over time we have gotten ahead of ourselves, the world has gotten ahead of itself, too many people are doing too many things that have destroyed authenticity and culture.

Does a player like AirBnb pose competition?
I just wish I had the brains they have but they do not concern us. Our clientele is very different. We are not worried about foreign arrivals – the more they come the better. If they don’t come that is ok too. The purchasing power of the Indian consumer, as well as his curiosity and desire to buy the best is so robust - that the only thing standing between us and success is ‘Us’. We need to ensure that we cater to the consumer. We have enough business. Are we ready for that is the question?